He Just Wants Us To Be There For Him
by Myra109
Summary: When Leo finally tells his siblings about his autism, they'll learn that autism isn't always obvious. "That's all he wants, even if he won't say it out loud. He just wants us to be there for him, every step of the way…" Sequel to Asperger's Syndrome


_Hello. Sequel to my other story **Asperger's Syndrome.** This is much shorter than the last one. Sorry, but I hope you still enjoy it._

 ** _Disclaimer: I own nothing that you recognize._**

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"Dude, this better be important. I'm missing a date for this," Jake said, slightly irritated.

On that Friday afternoon, Leo had called a Cabin Nine meeting. All siblings were required to be in the cabin at four pm. Even the younger ones, like Harley and Shane. It sounded important.

When the siblings arrived at the cabin, they were surprised to find Annabeth there.

Leo leaned against his bunk. "It is."

He glanced at Annabeth, who nodded, encouragingly.

"About a month ago, my friends found out something about me, something I haven't told anyone in years, and they wanted me to tell you. They were nice enough not to push it, but I did need to tell you. And that's what I'm going to do," Leo told them.

His siblings stared at him, curiously, silently urging him to go on.

"When I was younger, before my mom died, she started noticing that I wasn't like the other kids. She didn't mind; in her eyes, my behavior made me unique, and even after we found out the truth, she still saw it that way. My teachers noticed that I was different, too, but they didn't see me as unique. They saw me as a bad kind of different. My kind of different wasn't bad in any way, but the teachers immediately thought of it like that. I had a hard time learning certain things; I'd be really good in one subject and be horrible in another. I didn't always say or act the 'right' way or the 'normal' way; my manners weren't great because I didn't really understand that you need to say thank you or your welcome or please or stuff like that. I wasn't socializing well; I stayed away from the other kids, like they had cooties or something," Leo managed to joke as he glanced at Harley, his youngest sibling.

Harley, too young and innocent to truly understand what was going on, giggled.

"All of that lead to them to thinking I was a bad kind of different. Being different is never bad, but that's what they thought. They talked to my mom about it, and she immediately got offensive for obvious reasons. Some of the teachers were really nice, saying it wasn't bad and that they could help me socialize better and basically just help me develop my social skills, but others… well, they treated me like I was a freak. My mom was this close to taking me out of that school when the principal called me… _special_ in a tone that basically said he thought I was a freak.

"But the nice teachers immediately kicked everyone else out of that meeting, including the principal, saying they would talk to them later. Anyway, they encouraged my mom to have me tested."

Leo took a deep breath.

"She agreed, and I was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome."

Nyssa, Jake, and a few others froze. Whatever they'd been expecting, it hadn't been that.

Harley frowned. "What's that?"

Leo smiled, weakly, at his little brother before he turned to everyone. Some of them looked puzzled, too.

"It's a type of autism," he explained. "It affects my ability to communicate and socialize."

"Leo, we never knew. You don't seem like the type to have autism," Jake pointed out.

Leo stared at him, dead serious. "Autism isn't always obvious. Kids with autism just look like… people. Some look different, but they're still people. Some are in wheelchairs; some can't combine movements very well; some can't speak, properly, and some can't even speak at all. And then some of them look just like all of you. You'd never be able to tell."

"But we're around you seventy-five percent of the time. We live in the same cabin," Nyssa pointed out. "Wouldn't we have noticed _something?"_

"As time went on, I started to develop better social skills. Sometimes I had help. Sometimes I had to figure things out on my own, like sarcasm and irony. Facial expressions took a lot of work. When I was younger, you would've seen signs, but I started developing my social skills over time, and now, unless I tell you, you'd have to be an expert to notice it," Leo explained. "I'm going to tell you what I told my other friends. I'm the same Leo I was before. Nothing has changed. When you have autism, it's so common to be treated like glass, or worse, like dirt. I know it can be uncomfortable to around a person with autism, but sometimes… we just want to feel like normal kids. We may be different, but that doesn't make us abnormal, and yet, people make us feel like we are. Sometimes… we just wanted to be treated like everyone else. We don't want to be bullied; we don't want to be ignored or avoided; and I don't want you to treat me like glass. I'm still the same Leo I was before you knew, so treat me like you always have."

For a moment, there was only silence.

And then, a small laugh bubbled out of the crowd, and Harley flew over to Leo, wrapped his arms around Leo's waist.

"Of course you're the same Leo!" he laughed. "Why wouldn't you be?"

Leo hugged Harley back.

"I don't know. People think that after they find out, but they have no reason, too," Leo said.

"You're still my favorite brother," Harley said.

"Hey!" several of their brothers squawked.

"I love all of you!" Harley told them, "but Leo's my favorite."

"Ha ha!" Leo jokingly mocked.

"Oh, you better run," Jake chuckled, and Leo ran for the door, but he didn't even make it half way before he was swept into a group hug.

Annabeth smiled in the background, and she was surprised when Nyssa approached her.

"Thanks for being there for him," Nyssa said.

Annabeth shrugged. "That's all he wants, even if he won't say it out loud. He just wants us to be there for him, every step of the way…"

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 _Note: When Leo says that everyone thought he was a bad kind of different, I want to make it clear that having autism is not a bad thing, like so many people treat it as. Kids, coworkers, teachers, even friends are guilty of thinking having autism is bad, being anything **but** normal is automatically bad, but it isn't._

 _Thank you for reading! Please leave a review. Goodbye, everyone!_


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